Red Cabbage Kimchi

When I was at art college I spent a month studying a red cabbage. It was one that I had grown myself, with a densely packed heart and a frilly collar of outer leaves that ranged from the colour of burgundy wine, to a deep chalky blue green. It had a bloom over the leaves that gave them the look of a frosty morning and a network of veins ran like a spider's web out from the core. First I drew it in pencil, ink and charcoal and then pulled it apart and recreated the leaves in organdie and thread, redrawing them with fascination as they began to dry and crisp and curl. Finally I made my own cabbage in wire and silk, stained with inks, couched and threaded with shades of purple, red and green.

Cabbage rarely gets this sort of adoration. It's one of the few foods that Finley greets without joy. It's often seen as the maiden aunt of vegetables - solid, good for you, but a bit frumpy and not much fun on a night out. I love a bowl of coleslaw or some buttered savoy with lots of black pepper - but you must agree that school dinners is what springs to many people's minds if you mention cabbage?

I often suggest sauerkraut as a wonderful source of vitamin C in the winter, an excellent stimulant for gastric juices, something to pep up an ordinary winter salad, and daily probiotic. However, most people greet the suggestion without the enthusiasm I think it deserves! Fermented vegetables are on few meal tables these days, but they are a great alternative to ketchups, pickles and sauces that are often laden with sugar or preservatives. Fermented vegetables have that sweet and sour kick because the vegetables provide the sweet and the fermentation provides the sour. Fermentation also renders fibrous or starchy vegetables easier to digest, making the less desirable aspects of cabbage consumption (ahem) rather less apparent.

The sexy (Korean) cousin of sauerkraut is kimchi. Where sauerkraut is simple, sour and salty - kimchi has the magic of garlic, ginger and chili to provide a complex, mouth filling taste bomb. Made with red cabbage and carrot, it becomes a jewel like addition to any plate. A spoonful over your stir-fry will add freshness and intensify the asian flavours, added to soup it provides a fresh garlicky crunch. Why only this morning I was searching for something sweet and sour to accompany my eggs and my eyes lighted on the kimchi - delicious!

It is so easy to make that a child could do it - maybe it could be a nice project for you to do together? I like to add a good probiotic capsule to mine (I use Bio-Kult) as it does seem to help keep it fresh and consistent, but whey made from dripping yogurt in some muslin will do just fine.